Women: Are You a Candidate for Hair Restoration Surgery?

Although you might associate hair loss with men, it is a problem that affects women almost as much as it does men. About 40 percent of the people who suffer from hair loss are women, according to the American Hair Loss Association. While not every female hair loss patient is a good candidate for hair restoration surgery, a hair transplant can help many women get their hair–and their confidence–back.

Women and Hair Restoration Surgery

Type of Hair Loss Matters

One of the biggest factors that determines whether a woman is a good candidate for a hair transplant is the type of hair loss she’s experiencing. Not all forms of hair loss respond well or even benefit from a transplant. For example, telogen effluvium, or hair loss due to stress, is one of the most common types of hair loss among women. It’s also a type of hair loss that usually isn’t treated with a hair transplant, often because the hair grows back on its own after the stress is removed or gone.

In some cases, female pattern baldness can be difficult to treat with surgery. The pattern of hair loss in female patients is considerably different from the pattern in male patients, even though the same thing, DHT, is to blame. It can be tricky to tell which follicles are susceptible to DHT and which ones are not, making them ideal donor hairs.

But some types of hair loss that commonly affect women are ideal for treating with a transplant. Hair loss that’s caused by traction alopecia, or the repeated wearing of tight hairstyles over the years, can be restored with surgery, as can hair loss caused by severe burns or hair loss that occurs due to a surgical incision and scar. If a woman is experiencing pattern baldness in a pattern that is very similar to male pattern baldness, she might be a good candidate for surgery.

What Happens During Surgery

Women typically benefit from a type of surgery known as strip harvesting. During the transplant, the surgeon first removes a strip of skin and hair from the scalp, then harvests small grafts of hair follicles from it. Since many women wear their hair long, the incision and scar are easily concealed afterward. Strip harvesting also allows the surgeon to harvest a greater number of hair follicles that follicular unit extraction, another hair transplant method.

Although it’s not for every woman, hair restoration has become a considerably more popular option for female patients. According to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, the number of hair transplants performed on female patients has increased by 24 percent since 2004. Women make up more than 14 percent of hair transplant patients around the world. To learn more about hair restoration in New Jersey and your treatment options, contact Lisa at Contemporary Hair Transplant by calling 844-261-7020.